Their stunning 33-21 success at The Wern over the Ironmen included five tries, with Morgan Griffiths running in two of them, and their defence held out to deny the home side any chance of snatching a losing bonus-point. Merthyr have a game in hand on the Quins with four games to go.
If the Quins are going to unseat Merthyr as champions then they will have to do it the hard way as their three remaining games take them to Pontypridd and Llandovery before they complete their season at home against Neath.
“It’s nice when things click and we certainly performed on the day, although Merthyr were missing some players. It was about us having the mental toughness in the end to stop them getting the try they would have secured two bonus points,” said Quins head coach Richard Kelly.
“It is still going to be a big ask for us to win the title, but Merthyr have got some tough fixtures coming up with trips to Ebbw Vale and RGC, so it isn’t over yet. We just need to keep training hard and performing well.
“We’ve improved over the season and developed over the three years I’ve been here. The first two years were about building a pack that can compete, and with Aled Thomas and Nic Reynolds coming in this season, we’ve been able to expand out game.”
Pontypridd remain in contention in third place after their 38-21 triumph at Bargoed, where four tries in the final quarter put paid to some stubborn home resistance. Bargoed led 25-12 at the break before running out of stream in the end as Ponty piled on the pressure with second half tries from Jamie Hill, Huw Owen, Jordan Rees and Alex Webber.
RGC 1404’s title push received a sever dent as they were beaten 25-24 by 14 man Ebbw Vale as lightening struck for a second time at Eugene Cross Park for the Gogs. Tier defence of the WRU National Cup was ruined at the first attempt by the Steelmen in a 16-14 defeat in January and now this defeat leaves them eight points behind Merthyr.
Having raced into a 12 point lead with tries from skipper Evan Yardley and centre Tom Hughes, RGC found themselves trailing by eight points in the second half courtesy of a brave fightback from the home side. But a Dion Jones try, converted by Jacob Botica, edged the visitors into a 25-23 lead as the game moved into it dying embers.
That try came shortly after Dai Langdon had been red carded for a high tackle. He had kicked 13 points to mastermind the recovery, but when Ebbw were awarded a last-gasp penalty, Dan Haymond held his nerve to step into his shoes and kick the match-winning penalty.
Ed Howley helped himself to 22 points for Neath against Llandovery, but still ended up on the losing side as the Drovers avenged an earlier defeat at The Gnoll with a 40-32 triumph. The visitors ran in six tries to post their seventh defeat in the second phase.
Bedwas scored nine tries in their 57-34 home win over Cross Keys, with Ryan Davies bagging a hat-trick, while Bridgend were too strong for Swansea at the Brewery Field as they triumphed 24-0. Aberavon’s 41-5 win over a weakened Newport side kicked-off with a try from scrum half David Pritchard after a mere 84 seconds. Cardiff were 45-29 winners over Llanelli at the Arms Park.
